SIM card in Japan for foreigners: 10 resident plans compared

The best SIM card in Japan for foreigners without a Japanese credit card is Sakura Mobile or Mobal: both take foreign or debit cards, work fully in English and charge ¥4,378 a month for 30GB. GTN Mobile also takes convenience-store cash, from ¥2,838 for 20GB. If you have a Japanese credit card or bank account and can manage in Japanese, mineo, IIJmio or Rakuten Mobile cost about half as much. Prices and rules below are from provider pages, as of October 2026.

Which SIM cards can I get without a Japanese credit card?

Some low-cost providers (格安SIM), such as IIJmio and mineo, take only a credit card in your own name. Here is what each provider we checked accepts for the monthly bill.

“n/a” means the provider’s page didn’t say.

If you have just arrived and have no Japanese bank account yet, Sakura Mobile, Mobal and GTN Mobile are the realistic options. Once you have one, see our guide to opening a bank account as a foreigner for which banks accept newcomers.

How much does a 20 to 30GB plan cost?

Our sample is the voice plan closest to 20 to 30GB, monthly price including tax, read on October 20, 2026. Prices change often, and campaigns come and go.

IIJmio’s own price table is an image we couldn’t read, so its price comes from an ASCII news article of September 6, 2026. ahamo changes its price from December 1, 2026: the base plan becomes tiered from 40GB at ¥3,135. GTN Mobile’s 20GB plan was ¥2,178 on a campaign when we checked; we used the standard price.

Sakura Mobile’s prices exclude call and SMS charges. Y!mobile lists discounts for paying with a PayPay card (¥330), for adding home internet (¥1,650) and for family lines (¥1,100). Several of these can’t be combined.

How we scored the SIM cards

We use the same phone and internet method for every comparison, also published on our methodology page:

• No Japanese credit card needed (30%): 10 if foreign cards or cash are accepted, 9 for debit cards or PayPal, 8 for a Japanese bank transfer, 6 for a deferred-payment service like Paidy, 2 for credit card only.
• Monthly cost (25%) for the 20 to 30GB plan above: 10 at ¥2,200 or less, falling one point per band of about ¥500 to 5 above ¥4,500.
• English support and sign-up (25%): 10 for English sign-up and support, 7 for a multilingual site without stated support languages, 3 for an English site with no service guarantee, 2 when we found no English sign-up or support.
• Minimum term and cancellation fees (20%): 10 for no minimum and no fees, 9 for a one-month minimum or no cancellation fee, 7 for a fee of ¥1,100 or less in the first 12 months.

n/a means we found no evidence, and the overall is the weighted mean of the rest. A provider with evidence on fewer than three criteria is listed but not scored. Nobody paid for a place in this table.

• Sakura Mobile: foreign cards and convenience-store cash, English 7 days a week, one-month minimum; the price and ¥5,500 activation fee are high.
• Mobal: debit cards and PayPal, English support, no minimum and no termination fee, but no cash and you can’t bring an existing Japanese number.
• GTN Mobile: the widest payment choice (convenience store, bank, branch) and a site in 8 languages including Nepali and Vietnamese; its page didn’t state a minimum term.
• Rakuten Mobile: cheapest for up to 20GB and takes a bank transfer, but bank payment costs ¥110 a month and English customer service isn’t guaranteed.
• LINEMO: takes a bank transfer and includes 5-minute calls; ¥1,100 fee if you leave within 12 months; Japanese only.
• ahamo: takes a bank transfer; we found no English support on its pages.
• povo: pay-as-you-go toppings with no base fee, but no debit cards and strict residence-card checks.
• IIJmio: low price and no cancellation fee, but credit card only and foreign-issued cards may be refused.
• mineo: cheapest 30GB plan and no cancellation or transfer fee, but basically needs a credit card.

Best SIM card for each situation

• Best if you just arrived and have no Japanese bank account: Sakura Mobile. It takes cards issued abroad and convenience-store cash, and support is in English.
• Best if you might leave within a few months: Mobal. No minimum term and no termination fee.
• Best if you want to pay cash or speak Nepali, Vietnamese or Indonesian: GTN Mobile, for its convenience-store payment and multilingual site.
• Best value with a Japanese bank account: Rakuten Mobile for up to 20GB, or LINEMO for 30GB with short calls included.
• Best value with a Japanese credit card and some Japanese: mineo (30GB ¥2,178) or IIJmio (25GB ¥2,000).

No Japanese credit card yet? Our credit cards for foreigners guide covers which issuers accept newcomers.

What ID do I need for a SIM card in Japan?

Japanese law requires carriers to check your identity before they sell you a line. Since April 1, 2026, online contracts must in principle read the IC chip on your ID card, and in-person contracts follow from April 2027, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (総務省). Data-only SIMs now need an identity check too.

What carriers asked for, as of October 2026:

• docomo: residence card plus your foreign passport. Permanent residents don’t need the passport.
• SoftBank: residence card only for permanent residents and Highly Skilled Professional (ii); residence card plus passport for everyone else. You can’t apply with no status of residence (在留資格).
• LINEMO: residence card, plus your passport unless you are a permanent resident.
• povo: residence card with at least 90 days left, read by IC chip with a face photo.
• Rakuten Mobile: residence card. Online checks fail if the IC chip doesn’t hold your correct address, and home-delivery verification isn’t available to foreign nationals.
• Sakura Mobile: passport at pickup, or a residence card registered at your current address for delivery.
• Mobal: a full, valid passport for voice SIMs.

For a step-by-step list of documents and how phone installment screening works, read our phone contract guide.

Which carriers offer English support?

Only Sakura Mobile and Mobal run sign-up and support fully in English. GTN Mobile’s site is in English, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Nepali and Mongolian, but its page doesn’t say which languages its support staff speak.

The three big carriers have English phone lines, though their low-cost online brands are Japanese only on the pages we read:

• docomo: 0120-005-250 from a landline (15770 from a docomo phone), 9am to 8pm, in English, Portuguese, Chinese and Spanish. Every docomo shop offers a phone interpreter.
• au: toll-free lines from 9am to 8pm in English (0120-959-472), Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Spanish and Nepali (0120-924-703).
• SoftBank: dial 157 from a SoftBank phone and press 8, or 0800-919-0157 from a landline, 10am to 7pm.

Rakuten Mobile’s site has an English option, but it warns that customer service may not be available in English.

What to say at the counter

Bring your residence card and passport, and if possible a bank cash card or credit card in your own name. Useful phrases:

• “I want a SIM only, no phone”: SIMだけお願いします (SIM dake onegai shimasu).
• “I want to pay by bank account”: 口座振替でお願いします (kōza furikae de onegai shimasu).
• “Do you have English support?”: 英語のサポートはありますか (eigo no sapōto wa arimasu ka).

Already have a Japanese number? You can keep it when you switch; see how MNP works. Setting up home internet too? Compare home internet with English support.